Is it a driver pushing over the limit to get the most out of a slow/badly set-up car, or is it a lack of talent? Obviously Lotus/Renault and Haas have seen something in him for him to keep his place all this time, but it's hard not to be frustrated by yet another incident.

Is it a driver pushing over the limit to get the most out of a slow/badly set-up car, or is it a lack of talent? Obviously Lotus/Renault and Haas have seen something in him for him to keep his place all this time, but it's hard not to be frustrated by yet another incident.

Kimi and Bottas could come into play when Hamilton and Vettel make there first stop, they are going to need to be clear of the long running team mate of there rival. Kimi/Bottas battle here could be crucial.

Kimi and Bottas could come into play when Hamilton and Vettel make there first stop, they are going to need to be clear of the long running team mate of there rival. Kimi/Bottas battle here could be crucial.

Yep, both Bottas and Kimi are running Q2 on soft tires, therefore will start the race on softs.

Is it a driver pushing over the limit to get the most out of a slow/badly set-up car, or is it a lack of talent? Obviously Lotus/Renault and Haas have seen something in him for him to keep his place all this time, but it's hard not to be frustrated by yet another incident.

Interesting move by McLaren to send Alonso out and knock Vandoorne out of Q3. He'll get the fresh tyres alright but there are places to be gained if any of the leaders run into trouble, especially with penalties getting dished out

Yeah - it looks like it would have been a good race for Merc to secure a 1-2 and easily block off Vettel, more or less. Seems to me Mercedes might have the race pace tomorrow to still accomplish that but Bottas will need an excellent start and Vettel makes the difference as a driver to boot.

He's been pretty awful recently tbh. Hamilton had another tenth at least in there as he lost time in the 2nd and 3rd sectors so Bottas would have been .450 off a fully hooked up Hamilton.

Pretty crazy that this is considered good, I think the fact no other cars are within half a second of the Mercedes today has saved him, he really needs to step it up because he is performing poorly atm.

Last edited by Black_Flag_11 on Sat Oct 07, 2017 7:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

He's been pretty awful recently tbh. Hamilton had another tenth at least in there as he lost time in the 2nd and 3rd sectors so Bottas would have been .450 off an fully hooked up Hamilton.

Pretty crazy that this is considered good, I think the fact no other cars are within half a second of the Mercedes today has saved him, he really needs to step it up because he is performing poorly atm.

Yeah, overall I have to agree. Hamilton did appear a touch "safe" with pole in the bag and could have indeed squeezed another couple of tenths out of the car for something close to optimal. He had no pressure to take any particular risks or be on the edge through the second half of the lap. He sometimes does that btw when he nails early sectors compared to rivals (at least it feels so).

The track temperature is certainly vital in constraining the operating windows for the tyres on the Merc. They had excellent mechanical and aerodynamic grip based on the evidence today (that's to say that their chassis isn't necessarily worse than Ferrari or Red Bull when conditions are suitable which BTW is still most of the time).

Yes. The dilemma is do you set your car up to work optimally with enough fuel for 3 laps or for full tanks? One will make your car better in qualifying. Then there is fuel tank location and the effect fuel level has on the cars CG. It literally goes on and on. Oh, and of course the potential for rain needs to be taken into account.

What does the "Woe is me, Mercedes has been out developed" crew have to say now?

So much overreaction the past week.

You can only call what you see, Ferrari had the better race pace in 4 of the last 5 races (and qualifying too in 3/5) which ordinarily you would call track specific but they were very quick in Spa on race day which was a big anomaly.

We still have to see how tomorrows race goes, but it is certainly advantage Mercedes for the rest of the year now for me. For various reasons, Ferrari blew it when they had the car to get solid points on the board. Red Bull also seem unlikely to feature in the run in.